The present invention concerns a low-fat cereal-grain food composition that contains a fat mimetic system.
Today's lifestyle does not afford most persons with a regular opportunity to use their daily intake of calories. The quick pace of this lifestyle also demands easily prepared foods that unfortunately are often high in caloric content. Consequently, many health conscious people have begun to practice moderation in their caloric intake. A convenient means for such moderation is the consumption of foods that have a reduced caloric content.
A high portion of the calories in prepared foods and "fast" foods can be attributed to fats and shortening present. Eliminating fats and shortenings from such foods would meet the desires of those wishing to reduce their caloric intake without eliminating such foods from their diets. Fats and shortenings, however, function in prepared foods as tenderizers, preservatives, and coating materials for starch and protein granules. They also build the air cell structure of baked products and provide the desirable mouthfeel and ingredient control properties so familiar in cakes and other baked products. Baked products without fat or suitable fat substitutes often are gummy, heavy, and lack the crumb and tenderness commonly associated with cakes, cookies, muffins, and the like.
Accordingly it is an object of the invention to develop a cereal-grain based food composition that is low in fat and contains functional substitutes for some portion of the fats that otherwise would be typically present. It is a further object to employ a combination of low calorie ingredients that will function in approximately the same manner as fats and shortenings in a baked product. A further object is the development of a low-fat baked product which is tender, moist, light and exhibits a fine crumb.